Famous ape-man diagram must goclaims geneticist Adam Rutherford, from the University College London, according to an article in Daily Mail 21 June 2021.
He claims that the well-known textbook diagram depicting the evolution of ape to man represents an inaccurate view of evolution and should be ditched from school textbooks and popular science media. In a talk at the Cheltenham Science Festival Rutherford commented: “It implies a directional sophistication and intelligence. It’s from a textbook in 1965, and if I had one wish I would expunge it from the record of everything”. According to Rutherford, the diagram “points to the idea that evolution has a direction … It suggests that there are ape-like ancestors and they begin to walk upright and eventually become us and it goes in a very nice, neat line. This isn’t how evolution works at all. We evolve to occupy whatever environmental niche we’re in at that time … We quite easily in the future could evolve into a completely different shape or go back to being quadrupedal. That’s just how evolution works. The idea that evolution ‘improves’ is not correct”.
Link: Daily Mail
Editorial Comment: We agree the diagram is false and should be expunged from the record of everything, but not for the reasons Rutherford gives. It is false because it portrays the idea that people are derived from some non-human creature, irrespective of what the current theory of evolution wants to name the so-called ancestors. The facts show that human beings have always been human beings, all the way back to the first human Adam, who was created from the dust of the ground and not derived from some animal.
The original 1965 drawing depicted a series of semi-human creatures carrying weapons and bones, i.e. it portrays the world Darwin described as the “war of nature”. This is the opposite of the true history of man and animals. When God had created the first human beings there was neither death nor violence. Death and violence came into the world after the first human beings sinned against their Creator and God cursed the ground and death became a ‘fact of life’ i.e. it is the penalty for sin.
Understanding the origin of death is important if we are to find a solution to it. Death is not a biological necessity – it came into the world because of Adam’s sin. The solution to death was also provided by God when He came to earth as the man Jesus, who paid the penalty by dying on the cross. He proved the penalty was paid by rising from the dead.
Modern depictions of the diagram are more schematic than the original 1965 drawings, but they still reinforce the idea that human beings are just another kind of animal who are the result of millions of years of death and struggle. As such, the diagram strikes at the heart of the gospel, and this is the ultimate reason it should be expunged.
For more information see the question: HUMAN EVOLUTION? Does it create any problems for Christians who believe it? Answer here.
Creation Research News 30 June 2021
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